Malaysia plans overhaul of national airline

August 9, 2014

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Malaysia's state investment company said Friday it plans to make Malaysia Airlines fully government owned, removing it from the country's stock exchange before carrying out an overhaul of the carrier that is reeling from double disasters.

Khazanah Nasional, which owns 69 percent of Malaysia Airlines, said it has proposed to the carrier's board that it buy out minority shareholders at 8 cents a share, which is 29 percent higher than the airline's average share price over the previous three months. The takeover would cost $429 million.

Malaysia Airlines has been hit by two major disasters this year, which added to its longstanding financial woes.

In March, Flight 370 from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing disappeared with 239 people on board after flying far of course. The plane has still not been found, with a search in the southern Indian Ocean underway.

In July, 298 people were killed when Flight 17 was shot down over Ukraine. It was heading to Kuala Lumpur from Amsterdam and was shot out of the sky over an area of eastern Ukraine controlled by pro-Russian separatists.

Khazanah said the state takeover will represent the first stage of a "complete overhaul" of the loss-making airline, and that detailed plans will be announced by the end of this month.

"The proposed restructuring will critically require all parties to work closely together," it said in a statement. "Nothing less will be required in order to revive our national airline to be profitable as a commercial entity and to serve its function as a critical national development entity."